Silent March at CCA | Libby Edwards

Canyon Crest Academy is widely known for its progressive style and inclusive culture. Recently on the CCA campus, a silent march was organized regarding Trump’s new immigration ban. Safi Jafri, a junior at CCA organized this march with only 2 days of preparation. Jafri used social media and word of mouth to inform his peers to meet at lunch and prepare to march around the school. It was explicitly stated in the description of the event that it would be silent with absolutely no talking or chanting, this was so all political opinions would be respected.

Around 150 students participated in the march. There were 4 news stations covering the march including: Carmel Valley News, ABC10, FOX5, and NBC7. There were several police officers on campus to make sure there was no violence involved in the protest. The marchers made several laps around the campus before speaking to the press. The march was approximately 30 minutes. The marchers brought signs and wore shirts saying “1984=2017.”

Jafri stated “Civilized discourse is the foundation of this country. Our intent was to demonstrate that, and while I respect the differing views of Trump supporters, some of their methods of voicing their perspective were unfortunate and regrettable. Overall, we believe that this was a successful event that exemplified the accepting and inclusive values and culture of CCA.”

As Jafri previously mentioned, there were several Trump supporters surrounding the marchers. Some remained calm, while several chose to shout pro-Trump phrases. One boy in particular decided to shout “Build the wall!” When asked what his opinion on the march was, he said “It’s free speech they have every right to do it, I don’t agree with their message, but I support their right to free speech.”

When asked about the march, Principal Killeen said “I appreciate that from the outset, they really wanted this to be peaceful.” Members of the administration stood close by the marchers to make sure everything remained peaceful. There are certain laws to be followed when an event like this happens and the administration worked from those.

As for the after effect of the march, there were talks of a pro-Trump rally occurring the day after. The participants of the march reminded each other via facebook to be civil toward the Trump supporters. As of now, there has been no rally.